Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Ah, banana bread. I feel bad for it sometimes. As much as I like it, it’s usually an afterthought. I never plan to make it. It’s only when I spot overripe bananas that I start contemplating what to bake with them.

For a little variety this time around, I went with the banana-chocolate combo. This bread is quite generous in the chocolate department.

While you can certainly use chocolate chips, I went with the recipe’s suggestion of chopping chocolate. This gives you varying pieces of chocolate, including little thin slivers. The result is lots and lots of chocolate ribboned throughout the bread and more than plenty in every bite.

This bread bakes up nice and tall. Be sure your loaf pan is nice and tall, too, to avoid heartbreak. Another word of caution: It can be a bit tricky to test for doneness with all that chocolate. You may need to test it in more than one spot near the center to make sure it’s thoroughly baked.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla, and continue beating until combined.

I agree with LTSL above–it is an afterthought, but at least it’s a thought! It’s always better than I remember it, and once I started adding chocolate chips (just last year) it has made it’s way into a more regular rotation at my joint. But chocolate chunks and slivers?! The next level of awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Wow. That looks incredibly moist. I’m happy you posted this because it reminds me that I need to buy some bananas for some banana bread. My husband loves it so I actually plan to make it pretty often. I love it, but I’m allergic to bananas so don’t really get to eat it. Can’t get over how moist it looks!

Dee, some people swear by tossing the chocolate chips in part of the recipe’s flour before mixing them into the batter. In my experience, I find that many times you can prevent the chips sinking by not overmixing the batter. You want there to be some streaks of flour in the batter when you add the chocolate chunks so that the batter is just mixed after you stir in the chocolate.